19th December 2014

By N Sathiya Moorthy Now that the presidential election is here, the two main contenders seem to be on a denial mode as far as the 25 per cent minority votes are concerned yet wanting them to come his exclusive way, without being seen by their majority Sinhala-Buddhist brethren as asking for the same, or cutting a deal and the corners, for the purpose. Between the two, President Mahinda Rajapaksa is slightly better-placed, not because he may have them all till the polling day. Instead, the vociferous Sri Lankan Tamil (SLT) community has to be seen as being against him, as in 2010. Even a minor share of their votes, and an abstention by a substantial segment, would be a tactical-cum-strategic victory for him. He […]

Tamils will continue to be treated as a conquered people who are at the mercy of the Sinhalese conqueror. By Izeth Hussain – The cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy – H.L. Mencken My confident expectation before the Uva PC elections was that the UPFAwould have a “torrid time”, and so it turned out. My confident expectation thereafter was that at the next round of elections the President and the UPFA would be soundly, and deservedly, trounced. The obvious reasons for that expectation are as follows. first of all there is the factor of longevity: in the contemporary world, though not in traditional societies, people want change; combining economic development with equity seems to be practically impossible under the capitalist system, so […]

BBS is with Mahinda, But considering the files Mahinda holds on the SLMC Members it is firmly believed that SLMC will support Mahinda. The Supreme Council of the Sri lanka Muslim Congress convened yesterday to decide to whom they would render their support during the forthcoming Presidential election. A senior spokesperson of the congress stated that the discussion concluded without reaching any decision. Party leader Rauff Hakeem and the Supreme Council have decided to discuss the matter extensively during the next couple of days. BBS is with Mahinda, But considering the files Mahinda holds it is firmly believed that SLMC will support Mahinda. ”Arab Muslims are uneducated, wear turbans and shout slogans on the streets’ says Sri Lankan Muslim December 19, 2014 // 0 Comments […]

An online survey conducted by the Centre for Policy Alternatives asked five questions regarding the upcoming Presidential election. The objective of the survey was not to predict election results but to gather public opinion on the elections and contribute to ongoing discussions. As the survey was conducted online and not with a random sample, the findings presented below cannot be generalised to Sri Lanka. 1,394 people completed the survey during the survey period 12-16 December 2014. Respondents were given a list of issues affecting the country at present and were asked to select which issue they thought should be the main focus of the candidates’ campaigns. 51.71% selected corruption while 20.83% selected the economy, 19.08% selected Constitutional reform and 8.38% chose human rights. If the […]

by Shamindra Ferdinando In spite of helping President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government to bring its war, against the LTTE, to a successful conclusion, in May, 2009, the US stepped up pressure on Sri Lanka over accountability issues. The US relentlessly pursued the accountability issues, in accordance with its overall strategy, meant to haul Sri Lanka up before the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The US project led to the launch of an external investigation into the conduct of Sri Lanka’s political and military leadership, consequent to 25th session, in Geneva, in March, last year. The US, in late Nov 2011, warned, the then SLFP General Secretary and Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena, that the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) would be moved against […]

A woman stabbed to death in a brutal attack near her home had been in a ‘year-long row over a parking space.’ The victim, named locally as mother-of-one Alison Morrison, 45, was found dead in Harrow after being attacked by a man thought to have been carrying a huge knife. Morrison, who moved to south Harrow three years ago, was vice chair of the Harrow Safer Neighbourhood Board established in order to ensure local people are involved in addressing crime. In her profile she wrote: “I live in South Harrow and moved here in 2011. “I have been involved in a number of boards, both during my working career and in a voluntary capacity. “I undertake a variety of voluntary roles, including as a Neighbourhood […]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa today said that he cannot allow Sri Lanka to face the same fate suffered by the countries like Iraq, Libya or Egypt. “Look at the situation in Iraq, Libya and Egypt, we cannot allow this to happen in this country,” he said addressing an election rally in Mullaithivu with full military support. Reminding the war in the country, in which more than 170,000 Tamils were killed by his forces which ended in May 2009 with more than 40,000 Tamil Civilians killed by the Sri Lankan forces, the President said that he would not allow the country to go back to the dark era again. “We cannot let the terrorism to raise its head again. The conflict era was 30 years, but we […]

Wiggy ‘n’ Dougie in verbal sparring bout! BY ANANTH PALAKIDNAR AND MENAKA INDRAKUMAR Northern Chief Minister, C. V. Wigneswaran and Minister Douglas Devananda accused each other of being responsible for Tuesday’s clash between the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) at the District Development Committee meeting, held at the Jaffna Government Secretariat. Wigneswaran, who co-chaired the DDC meeting together with Devananda said, the latter should take the responsibility for the clash. Convening a press briefing at the Chief Minister’s office, on Tuesday evening, Wigneswaran said Devananda and the outsiders who were present at the meeting, were solely responsible for what took place at the DDC meeting. “At the commencement of the DDC meeting the Government Agent Jaffna requested the participants […]

SLMC Won’t talk to BBS “We’re always on losing side” By Kavindya Chris Thomas and Cassendra Doole The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) will not hold talks with the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) as they do not consider the BBS as a political party, besides, the challenges posed by the BBS being trivial National Organizer to the SLMC Shafik Rajabdeen said. BBS said Tuesday (16) they will take legal action against SLMC if their Deputy General Secretary, Nizam Kariapper does not withdraw his statement that there will be a repetition of Buddhist-Muslim riots, if the common candidate wins the election. However, Rajabdeen said that SLMC will not pay attention to what the BBS says, as BBS is not a political party. “If anyone is going […]

TNA Challenges MR To Release Proof Of Their Deal With Common Opposition TNA MP MA Sumanthiran has challenged President Rajapaksa to publicize the proof he claims to possess of the deal that the TNA has allegedly struck with the common Opposition movement. MP Sumanthiran while vehemently refuting the claim made by President Rajapaksa at his campaign rally in Chilaw regarding a ‘secret’ deal the TNA has made with the Opposition said that if the President possesses proof of this alleged deal that they never made, he should publicize its details without any hesitation. Commenting on the allegations made by the President against the TNA, the MP said that they are claims he is making to mask his agitation concerning his growing unpopularity. “These are statements […]

Members of the common Opposition movement gathered before the Elections Department this afternoon and urged the Elections Commissioner and the IGP to vacate their positions if they are not ready uphold election laws. The protesting politicians and their supporters staged a sathyagraha and a protest campaign before the Elections Department this afternoon as they expressed their objection to the lack of action against election law violations that are being committed by President Rajapaksa‘s campaigners. JHU General Secretary Patali Champika Ranawaka speaking at the sathyagraha said, “Our local level politicians are not able to actively engage in campaigning for the upcoming Presidential elections because the Defence Ministry is constantly interfering through the area police to intimidate them. . .” He said if immediate action is not […]

Mahinda Rajapaksa has betrayed the people. He has put family before country. Instead of creating a merit based society with equal opportunities for all, he has handed-over the people’s taxes and wealth to his own family and cronies. By appointing family members to all major decision-making posts Mahinda Rajapaksa has caused the country’s decline towards dictatorship, ever rising corruption and mismanagement. The Rajapaksa family alone controls over 56 percent of the entire country’s annual budget and all the key ministries are in their corrupt hands. Sri Lanka needs a system where no one family or person can centralize power in such a fashion. We need a system where power is distributed between the legislature, judiciary and executive. But that is not enough – each of […]